EAST HARTFORD, Ct. – After the U.S. gutted out a 1-0 World Cup qualifying win over Costa Rica in March, the Costa Rican federation filed a protest over the blizzard conditions. Now the U.S. is itching to make statement in tomorrow’s Gold Cup rematch: Play without the snow, and we’ll beat you even worse.
“Obviously it was a very tough night in Denver a couple months ago. I still think if the game is played on green grass and not the snow coming in, I think we would’ve actually had a clearer result. We were really in very good shape that day,’’ U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann said as his team prepares to close out Group C tomorrow at Rentschler Field (8 pm, FSC, Univision).
“Tomorrow we’ll get our best lineup because we want to win this game, absolutely. We want to send out a signal. We want to see where we’re at right now.’’
Where the U.S. is right now is riding a red-hot streak, having tied a team record with seven straight victories after a 4-1 rout of Cuba. But after cruising past Belize and Cuba to clinch a berth in the quarterfinals already, they know they’re stepping up in level to play a talented – and motivated – Costa Rica.
It will also be a tantalizing preview of the rivals’ World Cup qualifier when they meet with even more at stake on Sept. 6 in San Jose.
“We know this is the first real test for us with this group. Obviously it’s going to be a different game in a couple months time and a very, very important game,’’ said Klinsmann, a firm believer in statement games and very aware this is one.
“I think every time these two teams meet – like when the U.S. meets Mexico or Costa Rica meets Mexico – you want to do well, show your opponent where you stand and what you have. You want to beat them. I think this gives you automatically more confidence when you face them the next time.’’
The United States’ confidence should be bouyed, with 16 goals in the past three games tying a team record. And striker Chris Wondolowski has clearly broken through on the international level, with five goals in just two Gold Cup games, the only U.S. player to ever tally that many in a single Gold Cup tournament.
Now it remains to be seen if Wondolowski – a scoring machine in MLS – can keep that pace up as the U.S steps up in competition. They’ve already clinched a berth through to the quarterfinals, win or lose. And holding a plus-eight goal differential – compared to Costa Rica’s plus-four – the only way they can fail to win Group C outright is if they lose by three or more goals Tuesday.
“We want to win this group. We feel very fortunate that we’ve been able to go to the quarterfinals, but we want to win this group and we have to beat Costa Rica, or at least get a good result,’’ said Wondolowski.
“I think it’s a very difficult task. Costa Rica stays very compact, their back four is very organized. But I believe we have a lot of talent going forward. Especially when we connect our passes, our movement off the ball is something very crucial for us.’’